Spiky is a curious and adorable hedgehog but is known for often throwing tantrums for no good reason. Nobody in his woodland home can understand why he acts this way, and some days, it is really difficult to stay patient with him.
One day his grandfather, Rocco, takes him aside and gives him a gift that will change his life. What treasure does he discover? Find out in “Along the Way with Spiky” where you’ll also discover the valuable life lesson he learns along the way. Life is a journey—keep questioning, keep learning, and keep discovering because there’s a great big world out there to explore!
This Capstone project is a critical reflection on the benefits of reading for children, and on the importance of strengthening it, in family, school, and therapeutic settings, in particular, to support children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).
In this regard, it has emerged that reading can be a source of infinite creativity if appropriately presented to children, through progress that immerses them into a world of experiences and benefits. This led me to reflect on Bibliotherapy and ADHD and going deeply into an educational focus centered on the importance of the contents of the books both from the point of view of the text and of the images.
For each character it was necessary to analyze the role within the story, their actions, and behaviors. In collaboration with a professional illustrator and colorist, Alessandra Bracaglia, we created the sketches of the two main characters: Spiky the hedgehog, and Sofia the ladybug.
As a drawing technique, we decided to assign human characteristics to the animals. The anthropomorphic style, in fact, helps to express more clearly the typical aspect of the characters, makes them more interesting, and relatable—especially for children. Therefore, we chose to design animals that are wearing human clothes and that show human emotions.
To create the illustrations, it was decided to use a mixed technique realized digitally: watercolor for the background and watercolor and pencils for the characters and objects in the foreground. This allows these figurative variations to have the necessary details for focusing the reader’s attention to the key moments of the story.
If you are curious to know more about this research, waiting for the book to be published, this is an extract of my Thesis.